Goliath
Goliath was the leader of the original Wyvern Clan, and is currently the leader of the Manhattan Clan. He is a strong and intelligent warrior, with a firm sense of morality coupled with a short temper. Goliath had been named after the Biblical giant Goliath by his human protectors, making him the only gargoyle to have a name before their 1000-year-long stone sleep (since Gargoyles themselves as a race never saw the point of having names). Characteristics Physically, Goliath is an impressive figure, a tall and powerfully-built gargoyle with lavender skin and dark hair. He is one of the mightiest warriors alive, and even his most formidable opponents cannot easily defeat him. He is also a bold and fierce gargoyle, and his wrath is something that can be terrible to behold. While a level-headed figure in general, and a good leader, he can be very stubborn at times (such as in his refusal to abandon Castle Wyvern), or sometimes even become bitterly vengeful (as in his feud with the Hunters). But he is no mere savage, and his emotions can be held in check by his strong sense of justice and morality. He takes his role as a protector seriously, and will willingly put his life in danger to keep New York or his clan from harm. In another way, Goliath has shown himself to be something more than a fierce gargoyle warrior. He is literate, having been taught how to read by Demona back in the 10th century, and has a particular fondness for the classics, such as Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky. Mingled in with his gargoyle instincts is a thoughtful, philosophical nature; he often ponders about the world and how it has changed since the time that he grew up in. He also eagerly learns all that he can about it from Elisa. His wisdom and sense of hope have helped him endure the fear and prejudice displayed by humans towards gargoyles, not yielding to it as Demona has done, as he continues to understand that humans treat gargoyles thus because they are afraid of them, and hopes that they will change for the better in the future, that someday, their races will be at peace. History Goliath was born in 938 A.D. In 984, Goliath was second in command to his mentor (later called Hudson). When Prince Malcolm was poisoned by the Archmage, Goliath, his mentor and his mate (later called Demona) went after the Archmage to get the Grimorum back for the cure to the Prince's poison. Goliath was able to get the Grimorum back from the Archmage, who then attacked him with a stalagmite, but the gargoyle was able to dodge and let him fall to his apparent death. After Goliath, his mentor and his mate returned and the prince was cured, his mentor, having lost the use of an eye during the altercation, decided to step down as leader of the clan and name Goliath his successor. Goliath held the position as leader of his clan at Castle Wyvern, until 994. Like the rest of the clan he faced prejudice from the human residents of the castle, and members of Wyvern's court often compared him to his biblical namesake Goliath, especially the head of the castle herself, Princess Katharine. Her father, Prince Malcolm had named him years before. http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/faq.php?s=faq2 In this time, he had mated with a female gargoyle that he called his "angel of the night" (later known as Demona). During the Viking attack he was led away from the castle with his mentor (later called Hudson), on bad information by Demona and the Castle Captain of the Guard. This information was part of a greater plot conceived by Demona and the Captain of the Guard to evict the humans and leave the castle to him and the Gargoyles. When he returned, he believed that his love had been killed with the rest of his clan, and desired vengeance. He led the five surviving clan members in a raid on the Vikings, and personally chased the Viking leader Hakon when he fled with Princess Katharine as hostage. He rescued Katharine, but Hakon himself was tackled by Wyvern's Captain of the Guard and fell to their deaths (though they later returned as ghosts). Things were only compounded when he returned to the main group of Wyvern's refugees to discover that the five remaining members of his clan had already been turned to stone by a grief stricken Magus, who believed that they had been responsible for killing Princess Katharine. Upon realizing his mistake, he followed through with Goliath's request that he join them in stone sleep, and, along with Princess Katherine, vowed to protect the rookery eggs. Goliath and his clan was to remain in stone forever until, as the spell stipulated, "the castle rose above the clouds". In 1994, Goliath and his clan were reawakened by billionaire David Xanatos who moved Castle Wyvern and the clan to the top of his Manhattan skyscraper, effectively breaking the spell. Initially distrustful of Xanatos's intentions, after an attack on the castle by enemies of Xanatos, he agreed to work for Xanatos for a time. It was through the intervention of an NYPD detective, Elisa Maza, that he came to see Xanatos for the ruthless individual who had manipulated him, and finally agreed to lead the clan away from their ancestral home. He also encountered his former love, his "angel of the night". Now called Demona, she had also survived through to modern times, and had been partially responsible for the Viking attack that wiped out the clan. Cruel and twisted, and spiteful of humans, Goliath nevertheless held out hope that she could be redeemed for a long while. Eventually, he came to realize that this could not happen, and his affections turned instead to the human, Elisa Maza, though for longer still neither of them would acknowledge the fact. Later, Goliath discovered that the rookery eggs from Castle Wyvern had escaped to the mythical island of Avalon and was cared for by Princess Katherine and the Magus who had vowed to protect the eggs as atonement for freezing the clan in stone. On Avalon they formed a new clan, and among them was his own daughter, Angela. He was reluctant to accept parenting responsibilities, partly because of the Gargoyle tradition that the entire clan acts as a parent rather than one particular Gargoyle acting as a parent to his/her biological offspring and partly because he knew that Angela's mother was Demona, but was eventually convinced to treat her as a daughter. She became a part of the Manhattan Clan when they finally returned from Avalon. He also has an evil clone, Thailog, whom he has grudgingly accepted as a "son". Future Eventually, Goliath and Elisa would hold some sort of Commitment Ceremony (probably before 1999), and further down the road, even raise a child together, presumably by adoption. Greg Weisman confirmed at the 2004 Gathering that it is from this adopted child that Nicholas Natsilane Maza will be descended. At some point between 2004 and 2188, Goliath would sacrifice his life for some unknown purpose. However, it is known that shortly after his death, and in no small part due to his great sacrifice, the United Nations would adopt the Gargoyle Minority Protection Act which granted gargoyles full "sentient rights", established the Gargoyle Nation and made hunting gargoyles a crime. Abilities Goliath is shown to have incredible strength and endurance even for his species. This is most likely due to his musculature. Although he usually fights his enemies unarmed, he is skilled in using a variety of weapons; from maces to scrape metal and even guns. He is fast and agile for a gargoyle of his size. He is able to strategize well. He always makes decisive planning. Being a clan leader, he is able to assign tasks that is best suited to each of his members. Even on his own, he is able to handle difficult situations. He has sufficient knowledge in using magical items such as the Phoenix Gate although he is reluctant to do so. On many occasions he is shown to be a skilled diplomat, such as the time he's able to break the Archmage's control over Demona and Macbeth temporary. Relationships Goliath's relationship with other members of his clan, other Gargoyles such as his former life partner Demona and his evil clone Thailog as well as humans such as his current love, Elisa Maza and enemy, David Xanatos drove many stories in the series. Elisa Maza Elisa and Goliath's relationship did not start on the best terms. Elisa was unsure of whether or not to trust a mythological creature, and Goliath was still feeling betrayed by humanity. The first person who seems to notice the growing relationship between the two is Hudson after he chooses his name, though the two do not begin to openly trust each other until Elisa protects Goliath from being captured while he sleeps. The romantic aspect of their relationship is completely ignored by the two until Demona (Goliath's ex-mate) attempts to kill them for not helping her to annihilate humanity. After that, however, the two refused to acknowledge their feelings until Elisa was turned into a gargoyle by Puck's spell. Though Goliath and Elisa do have a series of moments sprinkled throughout the series, it isn't until the Hunter's Moon that either one speaks of their feelings for one another. The relationship between Demona and Goliath, though kind in the beginning, quickly soured after Demona declared that she could not forgive humanity's transgression against their kind, though it is shown that, in truth, many of the pains she has suffered from others was due to her own cruelty and/or ignorance. She constantly finds herself jealous of his and Elisa's relationship, even going so far as to try to wish her out of existence , though it backfires when, instead of killing her, Puck changes her into a gargoyle. Other characters Hudson As his mentor, Hudson probably knows more about Goliath than any other character and the two are constantly leaning on each other emotionally. While Hudson has some issues with admitting that he is growing old, he always finds comfort in his old pupil; the incident in which the two look into their relationship, in which they both reminisce on the mission that led to Goliath taking over Hudson's command. Brooklyn Goliath, after being attacked by the Pack , placed Brooklyn as his second in command following a mission where Brooklyn coordinated a plan to rescue Goliath and Hudson after they were captured by the upgraded Pack, creating a relationship between the two much like the one between Goliath and Hudson. Although Brooklyn, as the most temperamental of the younger trio, found it hardest to forgive humanity, this issue was tackled when Demona used his remaining frustration to trick him into brainwashing Goliath, Goliath assuring Brooklyn after he was returned to normal that Demona's views was merely a half-truth that she had accepted as a whole one. Broadway As with the others in the trio, Broadway trusts Goliath completely, although Broadway generally seems to turn to Elisa for advice more than Goliath, particularly after in which he shoots her in an accident. Lexington Lexington, as the most intelligent or the trio, has the same relationship as the others. While he believes he can usually take care of himself and can make proper decisions, he is proven wrong , where Goliath explains to him that, though they do need to be careful with who they trust, they cannot hide from the world. David Xanatos Although Xanatos is the first human Goliath meets after awakening, the two quickly find themselves at odds with each other, Goliath furious at Xanatos's manipulation of him and the clan, and Xanatos at Goliath's refusal to help him. After Goliath and the rest of the clan help protect his son, Alexander, from his mother-in-law, Titania first husband, they come to a understanding to a degree. Notes Character development The Gargoyles concept began as a comedy series in the style of The Gummi Bears, although set in the modern day. When this proposal was rejected, a Disney producer Tad Stones suggested that the series be altered to include a tragic lead gargoyle, and the concept became an action-oriented series. This lead character developed into Goliath, and the rest of the series was reworked around this character. The central character of the whole series, Goliath is the leader of the Gargoyle clan, a strong, intelligent character, with a firm sense of morality coupled with a short temper. Goliath had been named after the Biblical giant Goliath by his human protectors some time before the beginning of the series, making him the only gargoyle character to have a name before their 1000-year-long stone sleep (since Gargoyles themselves as a race never saw the point of having names). * Goliath appeared in all but three episodes of the series: ** "The Silver Falcon", "Kingdom" and "Pendragon". ** Cameo in the End of episode "Turf" * Goliath was the leader of the Wyvern Clan for just ten years before the Massacre. * Goliath was not part of the original comedy development of Gargoyles. He first appeared as the title character of "The Gargoyle", the first attempt at turning the show into an action-drama. In this proposed show, "the gargoyle" was the immortal magical creation of an evil wizard who becomes a hero in the modern world. * Goliath did not name himself (names are/were not a concept gargoyles fully understood); he was given the name by the people of Castle Wyvern. * Some of the names considered for Goliath included "Gar", "Griffin", "Lear", "Calaban", "Othello", "Atlas", "Stone", "Prometheus" and "Titan". Trivia *According to the Bible, Goliath's name is derived from the giant named Goliath, who was the leader of the Philistines and was defeated by David's slingshot. Ironically, as stated by Katherine, while his namesake was a savage brute, the Gargoyle named after him is a noble, benevolent individual. Gallery Image Gallery for Goliath. Click here to see all of the images, featuring Goliath. On DVD Covers Gargoyles The Complete First Season.jpg Gargoyles DVD 2.jpg Gargoyles Season Two Volume Two DVD.JPG Gargoyles Season 2 Vol. 2.jpg On Comic Covers Gargoyles3cover.jpg Garg2.jpg Garg5.jpg Garg1.jpg Gargoyles08.jpg Gargoyles03.jpg Gargoyles01Cvr.jpg Gargoyles06.jpg Gargoyles05.jpg Gargoyles01.jpg Cartoon Screenshots Goliath angry at elisa.jpg Goliath and Elisa10.jpg Goliath and Eliza.jpg Goliath and Demona.jpg Goliath1.JPG Goliath.jpg GG608196.jpg images.jpg Promotional Images gargoyles_press_kit_1.jpg gargoyles_press_kit_1___2.jpg Gargoyles press kit 1 6.jpg GoliathandAngel.jpg GG601054.jpg GG608191.jpg Appearances References Category:Characters Category:Gargoyles Category:Male gargoyles Category:Wyvern Clan Category:Manhattan Clan Category:Clan leaders